It’s man down at the BAU, as one of the longest running procedurals on the air, CBS’s Criminal Minds, is officially saying goodbye to one of its original agents, Derek Morgan, a.k.a. actor Shemar Moore.

After 11 very lengthy seasons, Moore appeared in his last episode Wednesday night. In it — spoiler alert! — Derek’s pregnant wife survives a shooting and he decides to leave the force to spend more time with his family.

Cry if you have to, scream and yell if you have to, smile, smile, laugh, celebrate. This is not goodbye; this is goodbye to this part of a dream

“I’ve treated my acting career like school,”

Moore said to TV Guide, also reminiscing about a previous 11-year stint on The Young and the Restless. “The Young and the Restless: eight years. (That was) high school. Criminal Minds: college. Now I’m ready for grad school, a Ph.D., whatever you want to call it. I’m just ready to grow.”

And he hasn’t ruled out return appearances. “This business is all about politics, so I’m not promising anything,” he said. “But from a creative place, from a passionate place, if I’m asked intermittently to come back like they did at The Young and the Restless, from my heart, the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes.”

For his heart-broken fanbase, the “Baby Girls,” Moore shared a goodbye video with CBS saying, “To my homies, to my fans, to my baby girls: Cry if you have to, scream and yell if you have to, smile, smile, laugh, celebrate. This is not goodbye; this is goodbye to this part of a dream, this chapter. I’m not going anywhere.”

Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer posted a statement addressing Moore’s departure, writing, “All of us at Criminal Minds are sad to say ‘see you later’ to Agent Derek Morgan. Even sadder that our friend Shemar Moore isn’t on set anymore. It was definitely a surprise that he wanted ‘To leap,’ as Shemar said, ‘to try new things.’ For those reasons, we have nothing but love and respect for him and his choice. But it doesn’t mean we can’t also be really, really sad.”